Ok ... This is the last interview that post ... Will be available soon ... This interview will be available in Spanish (Brutal Passion'Zine) and English (Compilation of Death'Zine). I hope their comments in order to make best future interviews ...... As Dead Congregation is part of NWN, I honoured at home ... ......... jaja

DEAD CONGREGATION INTERVIEW

1- Hail to you Anastasis! It is very pleasant for us to have an interview from the band. There’s no question that Dead Congregation is one of the best obscure Death Metal bands that I’ve heard nowadays. Tel, us about the beginning of the band. What do you think is the special thing about the sound of Dead Congregation with respect to the other death metal bands from your country?

Hello Gabriel. Back in 2003-2004 I was playing in another project with the same drummer and I realized that instead of spending my energy on bands that didn’t represent my personal artistic views I should start something new, for which I’d be totally responsible – in every aspect. I started composing music without compromising my song-writing, without having to adjust it according to other people’s opinion on how it should sound, started rehearsing them with my drummer and with the addition of a good friend of mine on 2nd guitar and this was the birth of Dead Congregation. About a year after the line-up was completed by a bass player and from there on we were also able to perform our material live, on stage.
I don’t know if our sound is special, we don’t try or pretend to be innovators, nor do we wish to sound in a specific way. We simply play honest Death Metal from our heart and what you get is the Dead Congregation sound… Some people say we sound ‘old-school’, that may be because I was born in ’74 so I grew up with the first generation of Death Metal bands and considering I am the main composer this affects our material. It is certainly not intentional though and we certainly don’t have a pattern when composing songs. If it sounds/feels right, we keep it, even if it would be a more ‘advanced and modern’ riff or even a Black Metal sounding riff. Personally, I don’t think Death and Black Metal are two entirely different genres – on the contrary, what I consider as true Death Metal has a lot in common with Black Metal ideology and image (but not in the sense that most posers give to this word), bands like old Morbid Angel, Sadistic Intent, Shub Niggurath, Mortem, Incantation, Angelcorpse, old Diabolic etc... Dark and Satanic.

Another band from Greece who shares the same views is Nocturnal Vomit but their sound is rawer than ours. Apart from them, most other bands here are mostly influenced by bands like Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Vader, Deeds Of Flesh etc. As far as I know… So one might say they are more technical and ‘new school’ than us.

2- The band’s name is very suggestive, isn’t it? It is really close to the style of the band. What is the value you give to the name that identifies your band? Is it important to you to maintain a strong image, both in music, design, attitude and lyrical message?

Everything contributes to the final outcome. Lyrics support the music, you can’t play obscure music and sing about society or about your lovely girlfriend. Well, you can, but when I compose music I get other feelings out of it and that is themes of darkness, death and blasphemy. Image, design and the name of the band are very important, they all need to be effective in portraying the band’s intentions, leaving no room for doubting what one should expect in terms of music and atmosphere. So, one should be able to know what to expect from Dead Congregation with a simple look on our releases or a photo of the band or, as you said, just by the band’s name…

3- We know that previously Vagelis and you were active members of Nuclear Winter. What happened to your old band? Why did you decide to put an end to it? We’d like you to tell us a bit about it as part of your past and that you’d say something about its productions and what are the main differences between that and Dead Congregation, both bands being death metal bands.

I didn’t really have much input in Nuclear Winter for most of its existence. The band was active from 1995 and I joined them around 1996-97 but until the last demo (‘Abomination Virginborn’ 2003) I didn’t contribute much in general. When all of the members of the initial line-up were out of the band, I was left alone to write most of the music and this is why that last demo is quite different from the self-titled MCD or the split 7” with Incriminated. However, I still had to keep SOME of the past influences so I kind of compromised my song-writing, didn’t let go entirely. The difference between the two bands is big, Nuclear Winter always sounded like a mixture of Swedish Death Metal with Bolt Thrower touches (well, on the first MCD the Bolt Thrower influence was quite big) , while Dead Congregation is a lot Darker, its music creates an obscure atmosphere instead of being just brutal music, and we certainly don’t sound Swedish. The vocals are quite different too.
Well, its two entirely different bands so the music itself is very different as one should expect… I don’t know what else to say.
BTW that last Nuclear Winter demo has recently been re-released on 7”EP and the sound is much stronger in that format.

4- You may know that here in my country neither Nuclear Winter nor Dead Congregation are well-known, except for he most extreme followers of Underground Death Metal. This really sucks, but it is difficult to have access to material from bands like yours here in Chile, specially if the 90% of the scene prefers an album from mainstream bands. In terms of promotion, what is the band doing? Tell the readers how they can have access to your bands. Is it important for you to be well-known in countries like ours, for example? Do you think that the music from your bands is only for few people?

Well, we don’t do anything to promote the band ourselves that’s probably why we’re not known to most countries in fact. When people ask us for a promo or for an interview, we send material but other than that we have never mailed out promos on our own will… We don’t feel the need to become known, we do what satisfies our hunger – which is to compose and perform DEATH Metal. For our own gratification. Of course it is flattering to see that other people are into our Art but we don’t aim to become a widely known band. If it just happens on its own, fine. But our goals are pretty much fulfilled as soon as we have composed a new song or when we record our material. After that, we don’t care much about how many people will buy it/listen to it.

5- Hey Anastasis!!!... I don’t know whether I’m wrong, but I can notice some similarity between Nuclear Winter’s logo and the logo of the missing Nuclear Death. I think that was intentional, right? Speaking of Nuclear Death, tell me… what do you think of women in metal? Do you consider yourself as a male chauvinist person by the time of judge them and see them in your scene? I’m asking because in my country most women who are into metal don’t have any idea of anything, they’re only one t-shirt, one boyfriend that listens to metal, etc. It is rare to see women that have a deep knowledge of what the underground metal was and is, or that they have a strong conviction… what is your opinion with respect to this? Is it different in Greece?

The person responsible for the Nuclear Winter logo is a big Nuclear Death fan so maybe that has something to do with it but honestly, I don’t find the two logos to be that similar…
As for women in Metal, I know a lot of male fans that also have one T-shirt, have only listened to a couple of Cannibal Corpse and Slipknot albums and think they are True and Metal to the bone. So I don’t think it’s a matter of sex, rather that a matter of lack of intelligence. We don’t have many women into Metal in Greece but the few that I see seem to be dedicated. Having said that, I need to add that I almost never date women into Metal so maybe I don’t know too much about them either.
As for female band members, some that I’ve seen are actually great in their part (example= LSK/ bass in Antaeus and Joe Bench/ bass in Bolt Thrower) and I have the outmost respect for them. On other occasions, a female member has only been recruited as a decorative because the band has nothing more to offer than a pair of nice tits as a frontman…

6- Dead Congregation has its ‘Purifying Consecrated Ground’ ep in the underground scene from some time. Tell us something else about this production – things like the concept behind the cover, the artwork design, and about the lyrics of the five songs you have composed.

‘PCG’ was recorded in the second half of 2004 and was released in 2005 on all formats (MCD/10”MLP/pro-Tape). The recording was not really premeditated, when we had these 5 songs we decided to enter the studio and put them on track… The idea for the cover was partly mine and then completed and realized by artist Timo Ketola. I had something totally typical in mind – angels being devoured by demons. This was intentional because as said previously, artwork has to be effective above all, instead of going for a totally original concept that wouldn’t portray our vision. It was also sort of a tribute to the cover of ‘Dawn of Possession’ since Immolation are a big source of inspiration to us – not so much music-wise but mostly in the muddy darkened atmosphere that the majority of their recordings create. Timo took the main concept and enriched it with hints from the band name, so the battle of demons and angels takes place inside a chapel and on the background one can see the congregation which prays for their lives to be spared by the demons.
Lyrics are about the only themes that we consider suitable and inspiring enough to embellish our music and that is nothing else than Blasphemy, Death, Destruction, Filth… 2 of the lyrics were kindly written for us by Damian Scott (vocalist and guitarist of Florida based IMPURITY) and the remaining 3 by our guitarist, T. Even though the topics of the lyrics are not original, they are written in a good, intelligent way so we like to think that its not the usual boring juvenile church-bashing stuff.

7- what is the reason for the band members to identify themselves only with one letter? I don’t see photographs of the band members either. Many times I’ve been very disappointed by looking at bands with great music but with appearances like true nerds with hip hop outfits or like a Pantera member. I doubt that this is the case, ha, ha, ha. Why isn’t there any band member photographs?

We don’t identify ourselves with any letter, those are the actual initials of our first names. People should stay focused in the music, the lyrics, the atmosphere and not give a shit about who’s behind the band. It’s not like we wish to remain anonymous, we don’t exactly hide and there are many who know who we are. When replying to fans, we do so with our full names… It just seemed unimportant to mention names on the MCD. We’ve had fans that seem to idolize us and make a big deal out of us for no reason, asking for autographs, photos with them etc… Why? We are simply 4 individuals who manifest their inner demons, not celebrities trying to get exposed at any cost. So names, photos etc are not a necessity for us.
Regarding band photos, I personally hate posing for one and I rarely see an interesting band photo anyway. The only acceptable member photo is that captured on a live performance and by the time that we prepared the layout for ‘Purifying Consecrated Ground’ we hadn’t played live yet so we didn’t have any such photos. On our forthcoming album ‘Graves of the Archangels’ we will most probably have, for the curious ones…

8- Anastasis, you are part of the Nuclear Winter label. How do you do it for splitting your time between the band, label, family, etc.? tell us a little bit more about your label. What is the line the label follows, and how do you do it for selecting the bands you edit? Another thing, why is the name of your label the same as the one of your former band?

It is a bit exhausting having to deal with the band (I also play in another band now, helping out some friends) and the label and work a regular job and finding time for my woman and working out at the gym etc… There really is no room or time for rest, I almost never sleep before 02:00 and wake up at 08:00 every fucking day. I guess being over-active is the only way I can live my life, if it was calmer I’d probably be bored. Some rest is mandatory every now and then or else I wouldn’t pull it through physically so I try to take a short vacation once every two months.
The label has the same name as my previous band simply because I liked the moniker and I knew the band would die soon so it didn’t bother me much. I don’t follow a specific line, I just release recordings/bands that I personally like a lot and don’t care about sales, popularity etc. I try to have not so common formats so I release MCDs instead of full-length CDs, I still release Tapes, use special kind of paper for booklets and covers, add stickers and posters to some releases, little things that would make the release a bit more special. I am not in it for the money so I’m not bothered if something costs a bit extra, fuck that cheap lame Eps/CDs that most labels release in order to gain some quick cash. The music I release is special to me so I give it the packaging it deserves. The method of ‘signing’ new bands is simple, I usually find them by accident (by buying a demo or CD/LP which I really like) or, on RARE occasions, I’m impressed by a demo sent to me. Some bands that have or will be released under my label are KAAMOS, DROWNED (Ger), INSISION, CORPUS MORTALE, REVOKATION, VERMINOUS, NOMINON, SWORN, PLAGUE BEARER (DRAWN & QUARTERED project) and more… Check out www.nuclearwinter.cjb.net for more details.

9- Can you tell us what is the material that you have for sale and distribution? What is it the most interesting part of your label and what do you think it makes it different from the rest?

Ah, I think my answer on the previous question covers this one as well… As for items I have for distribution, I try to carry titles that are not only great in quality but also cannot be found easily to your nearest local Metal store. Sometimes I go wrong with quality, especially in the past I used to carry a lot of shitty releases on my distro but nowadays I am a lot more selective. I also keep pretty low prices and try to be fast with replying to Email and with mailing out packages. I want my ‘customers’ to be pleased with their choice of buying from Nuclear Winter Records.

10- Have you been able to play somewhere with Dead Congregation? What are the bands you’d like to share stage with? What are the best concerts you have attended in Greece?

So far we have played with ANTAEUS, WATAIN and KAAMOS. By the time you read this we will have played with CORPUS MORTALE as well (in May ’07). Live gigs are important to us but only if they meet the standards that we have in mind, which is to perform with like-minded bands above all. We have turned out offers to support bigger bands because we felt that Dead Congregation would be out of place if we played with these bands and for their fans. This is in no way a sign of arrogance, since we have turned down big bands and have agreed to play with a lot ‘smaller’ bands. It just seems unnecessary to perform live in front of an audience who will most probably will not understand our Art, only for the sake of playing in front of a lot of people. 50 dedicated Death Metal fans are a lot better than 500 clueless people.
We have also been offered to play in foreign countries, in London, at a Deathfest in Germany, in France with Arkhon Infaustus… Sadly we had to turn all offers down because we couldn’t make it at the time, for one reason or the other.
Best concerts in Greece I have attended? Well… I’d have to say Pink Floyd in 1989, Sepultura in 1991, Metallica in 1993, Slayer 1994, Kreator 1995, Morbid Angel every time they came here, Solitude Aeternus 2006… These are the first that pop in my mind so I guess they are the ones that really made an impression on me.

12- Well Anastasis, we’d like you to speak about your country and scene. Tell us, for example, from when have you been into metal? Were you raised with bands like Vomit, Death Courier, Flame, Varathron, for naming some?, what are the bands and albums which are most difficult to find in your country? In your opinion, what were the bands that were never appreciated in Greece and which are the ones you’ve liked the most both when you started in this and today?

I have been into Metal since 1985 and I’ve been raised with traditional Heavy Metal (Maiden, WASP, Priest, Motley Crue, Accept, Ozzy etc…) then moved to Thrash (Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer, Testament, Evildead, Holy Terror etc…) and I have been privileged enough to follow Death Metal from it’s birth. To be totally honest with you, I was never a huge fan of the Greek scene – I have most of the significant albums from Death Courier, Septicemia, Horrified, Varathron and all but they always seemed utterly inferior to bands from foreign countries to me. I know that a lot of people (and you as well) consider the old Greek scene to be ‘Cult’– I am sorry to disappoint you, I just never took them as something special. Apart from early Rotting Christ and a band named STIGMA who only released 2 demos and then broke up… These guys were actually why I started my label, their second demo is so good that in 2000 I decided to contact them and ask them to officially release it! Unfortunately they didn’t share my enthusiasm (they thought that the recording is too outdated!!!!????) so it never happened but the virus of forming a label had already hatched in me and the rest is history. So, STIGMA is definitely the one band that never got the appreciation it deserved.
As for albums that are difficult to find, I suppose the majority of them, especially the early Rotting Christ (even if you find them they cost a fortune) and the Death Courier LP which was self-financed by the band and pressed on a very limited quantity.

13- I imagine that you must hate many bands on this planet as well. Name us the most poser bands from your country and the bands you’d never share stage with or you’d never share a split ep. (Explain your reasons)

I don’t ‘hate’ bands, if a band sucks cock according to my taste, I just don’t bother with it.
For the second part of your question, it would have been a lot easier if you reversed the question to: ‘which bands would you share stage and sides on a split EP with’. There are zillions of bands with which I’d never share stage with and about a handful with which I would… The reason has been explained on an earlier reply. I will only share stage with bands that play honest Black Metal and true Blasphemous Death Metal. And probably old school Thrash… No power metal, no grindcore, no moronic ‘new school’ death metal with groovy riffs, hyperblasts, piggy vocals and buggy pants. I just can’t relate to that.

14- I wonder if in Greece there are places where you gather with more metal heads to trade albums, to buy vinyl, cds, or bars where you gather to have some beers. What do you do for being aware of what happens in the worldwide underground? Do you still keep tape trading alive for example?

Hm, I’m afraid I’m not that social nor have enough time and energy to go to Metal bars. Most of them play only hard rock or early heavy metal at its best anyway and I’m not that fond of bands like Cinderella and Whitesnake, you know? If I want to meet with friends and have a few beers I simply invite them at my home – its more personal and if I want to talk about Metal or whatever, I prefer to do it without having to shout over a loudspeaker and in a smoky environment.
Because of my label and the contacts that I have I am pretty updated with the underground, though I have to admit that only a few bands/labels/zines deserve our attention anymore. We are swamped with mediocre music and I have no tolerance towards it anymore. I might as well listen to my old classics instead of checking out 1000000000 shitty bands in the hope of finding one interesting. Besides, good bands always have a way to surface on their own, heh.
Tape trading is kind of replaced with downloading from the Internet nowadays, personally I never download songs. If I want to check something out, I ask a friend to lend it to me (or something similar) and if I like it I always end up buying the actual release.

15- Greece is a birthplace of world culture. What is it the thing you like the most about your country, your culture and of the place you had to live in? do you have a good life standard in Greek society? What would you change of your country?

I love our beautiful countryside and islands, Greece has a wide variety of different sceneries and landscapes and all of them are fucking magical. Greeks however tend to show no respect towards it – they try to take advantage of it by doing things which they think would attract tourists, yet in my opinion they end up fucking up the place. We, as a nation, usually have no respect towards much of anything, you can find people smoking in non-smoking areas, driving drunk, fighting on the street for no specific reason, I have to say we are pretty chaotic in our behavior. Which can be good or bad, depends on how one looks at it, heh. If I could change something I’d like Greeks to be more civilized and sophisticated and I’d like to see Athens with less inhabitants and less dirt… Other than that, I like Greece a lot, facts like you can go out and have a drink or grab something to eat on a 24 hour basis, you can drive like a madman and get away with it (ha!), you can travel to many great places within 2 hours from Athens etc… Greek women have also improved A LOT within the last 5 years, they are really taking care of their clothing, make up, figure etc, they are quite Hot, heh.

16- How do you see the metal scene? Are the people in the band closed to traditional metal in all its aspects or are you opened to accept the changes, either styles, music, etc.? What is it the most aberrant thing that you’ve had to see in metal as time passes? Slipknot, Machine Head, Korn, etc, etc.. What do you think of them being associated to the metal scene?

All 4 band members have quite different taste and I’m the most open-minded I’d say. The drummer and the bassist like Death Metal in the USA Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse, Deeds Of Flesh vein and they also play in a band called Inveracity which is exactly in that style. Our other guitarist has a rawer taste, listening to raw Black Metal, raw Death Metal and super doomy stuff like Sunn0))), Khanate and the sorts… While I enjoy a lot of Metal on all different genres, I am not ashamed to admit that I like bands like Nevermore, Anathema, Helloween, Solitude Aeternus, Thrash, Death, Black, traditional Heavy Metal, if it’s good I dig it! And yes, I find Machine Head to be very metal in fact and whoever thinks that ‘Burn My Eyes’ in not a kick in the nuts and balls to the wall Metal can kiss my ass. I also don’t mind evolution if it works and if it’s done with class. Like Anathema and My Dying Bride for instance or Gorguts (‘From Wisdom to Hate’ is a SICK album!). On the other hand, we see bands like Metallica making a complete fool of themselves when they distanced themselves from their roots. It’s a very thin line I think, because it’s hard to release a lot of great albums and still maintain a high quality in your compositions and not sound boring because you’re only repeating your old ideas…
I have no idea about Slipknot or Korn, I haven’t heard anything by them and I’m not interested either. What I really cannot tolerate is seeing bands like Evanescence and Linkin’Park being associated with Metal! I mean, what the fuck is that???

17- In this great variety of styles and music you can see different types of ideologies and ways of handling a style. What do you think is the way of doing Death Metal? What is the concept and ideology that Death Metal should never misrepresent? What do you think of Death Metal bands with lyrics like social, deformity, shit, etc.? Can you link that with real Death Metal?

In my book, bands that qualify as DEATH Metal bands are Morbid Angel, Incantation, Kaamos, Necros Christos, old Grave, old Entombed, Immolation, Angelcorpse, old Diabolic, Sadistic Intent, Mortem (Per), Coffin Texts, Repugnant, Arkhon Infaustus, old Belphegor… You draw your own conclusions on what ideology and kind of lyrics I see fit for Death Metal.

18- I’ve always thought that metal is very linked to the dark, violent side, but it is very sexual also, for saying something… do you like topless and prostitutes? Do you usually go to such kind of places with the band members? What about XXX cinema, is your country a good porn producer?

Do I like topless? Haha, what sort of question is that, who doesn’t like topless? Even the women that I know love other topless women for fuck’s sake! I have never felt the need to pay a woman to have sex in my life but I have been to a few strip-clubs sometimes and funny that you asked about other band members as the last time I was at a strip-club was 2 years ago with my drummer, haha.
Greece used to produce porn films in the past, with ugly hairy stars. I’m not up-to-date with the current status of Greek porn, I am perfectly content with foreign films with lots of A2M action.

19-What about perversion, sickness, lust, fetishes? Do you have limits in the band for those subjects? For example, what is it that you’ve never been able to do with a woman and that you must do as man before you die? Do you have any hidden fetish that you’d like to do with a female metal banger?

I think that all of my fantasies have been realized up to now, though there is a saying which says ‘one equals none’ and it means that one time is never enough, heh. I am quite hungry for sex all the time so I cannot stand pretentious women with shitty Christian morals or anorgasmic types who like to fuck once a week and make you feel they’re doing you a favor, you know?

20- Talking about fetish and lust… what is the proper album for fucking a female and to fulfill your fantasies? How do you imagine Chilean women by the time of fucking?

I don’t care about music when having sex, my mind is on tits and ass at that point so you can even play me Michael Jackson and I wouldn’t notice it. Chilean women? I have no idea, do you recommend them? Probably they are as every other woman of this planet, they can be cold like an ice-cube or nasty like my mom in her prime.

21-Death Metal has always dealt with death as a common subject for many bands… what does death mean to you and your band? Do you believe in eternal life? How would you like to pass away?

Death and what surrounds it is attractive (cemeteries, funerals, cadavers, skulls), yet we hail the Death not of our own but of the worthless piece of scum that is a pest on the earth. I love my life and I have no intentions in departing just yet. Eternal life is conceived by religion in order to have a grip on their disciples: “do no evil or you will go to hell in the afterlife”. That is bullshit but I guess we never know until we’re actually dead, do we?
I am too young to think about how I want to die, I know I don’t want to die rotting in a fucking hospital room, cabled to life-supporting machines though. I want it to be fast and deadly.

22- The first Nuclear Winter song in the ‘Abomination Virginborn’ demo is called Dead Congregation. I can realize that you already had that name in your minds befor forming the band – in fact that song I find it similar to the sound of your current band. Perhaps it doesn’t reach the obscurity achieved with Dead Congregation, but similar bases can be identified. Were you always clear on the band’s new formula? How do you do it for not doing the same that you used to do with Nuclear Winter?

Actually it wasn’t even my idea to name the new band Dead Congregation. After the release of the Nuclear Winter demo I was talking with a few friends telling them I’ll form a new band and I was thinking of naming it Abomination Virginborn – it was their suggestion that I should go for ‘Dead Congregation’ instead, heh. So thank them for that, their idea was not half bad. Obviously both names were to be taken from that Nuclear Winter demo simply because they felt appropriate as a band name, nothing more than that. Of course it’s a bit of a hassle as it gives associations to the previous band and everyone keeps asking me about it even now, 4 years after it’s demise, though I do not regret it. Dead Congregation is definitely a great name for a DEATH Metal band.
As for the actual ‘Dead Congregation’ song found in the Nuclear Winter demo, well that was the last song I wrote and it was very spontaneous. I wrote it 4 days before the recording session and we actually rehearsed it for the first time the day we recorded it. Maybe that’s why it’s got a different vibe than the rest of the songs.
I did not have a specific formula in mind for Dead Congregation, on the contrary, I formed a new band so that I could do everything as it came out of me naturally, subconsciously. If I wanted to compromise my writing and put it in a ‘mould’ I might as well could have continued with Nuclear Winter.
The only formula is DEATH.

23-I am impressed with the sound reached in the Mlp. It sounds simple, without arrangements that improves anything. The drums sounds really natural without any artificial element. Is that the sound that you always want to achieve? If you had more resources, would you change something? Were you satisfied with the sound, performance and artwork from your first work?

This is the same sound we have in the rehearsal place… We took our amps to the studio etc and recorded. Our drummer uses triggers for the bass drums because sometimes his playing it so fast that you wouldn’t be able to hear shit if he didn’t use it. However, I think it still sounds natural, maybe not as natural as Chris Reifert’s drum kit but definitely nowhere close to the artificial sound that 99% of today’s drummers use.
As always, everything was done in haste so the performance is not super-tight and some things could be better in the sound (it could have been dirtier for sure) but who gives a shit, no use for regrets and bitching about the final result – this is how we could do it at that time under the specific circumstances so, yeah, we are pleased with everything!
This time we have worked more on the recording of our album and I think it paid off… We are still in the process of mixing it and even though I have lost MANY nights of sleep and hours of sanity over this recording, in the end I will have my reward…

24-By observing the inner design of the Mlp, you realize that a male goat with some letters around appears, I wonder, what is the meaning of those letters? Is it a band’s created concept or you brought it from somewhere else?

The letters JHVH stand for nothing less that ‘Jehovah’. It was a drawing Timo Ketola had on the side and when he showed it to me we both knew this would be right in place in our MCD. It also became a T-shirt design for us.

25- What was the reason for the label to only edit Dead Congregation’s tape and both Mcd and Mlp were released by different labels? Isn’t more comfortable to produce you band in your label and to have a greater control on the band’s productions?

I don’t have the time to promote my band properly so I think it’s safer to leave it on other people’s hands, heh. Also, money is always an issue since I need it to produce releases under my label, if I did Dead Congregation as well I’d have to sacrifice another release over it. Both Konqueror Records and Necrocosm Records did a great job with the MCD and MLP versions respectively so I don’t regret my choice. Distribution was poor of course but we didn’t expect much and after all, Death Metal should never be too commercial.
26-Hey Anastasis, what is the meaning of underground metal to you and your band? What do you think of all metal heads that are unaware of this scene with its labels, distros, zines, bands and that they only know the most popular part of it? What is metal for you?

Metal for me is everything. That is a bold statement, yet the passion that I have for this music has made me who I am today. It’s hard for me to elaborate more on this subject… I am eternally grateful to my father for giving me ‘powerslave’ and ‘bark at the moon’ back in 1985 and scarring me for life with the grandeur of Heavy Metal Cult. ‘Metal Heads’ with no knowledge of the underground are obviously not thirsty enough for Metal to dig more into it, they buy their Metallica CD from Virgin Megastores, they read Kerrang and they are happy. Personally, I think these kind of fans are the ones who at the age of 20-25 decide that Metal is ‘immature’ and they start listening to other forms of music… It doesn’t bother me, Metal was never meant to be popular (‘POP’ music) so the fewer fans the better, if it means that the remaining few are more dedicated.

27- The description of Necrocosm Production when it represents the vinyl production from your band is the following: ‘5 tracks of Intense Dark Death Metal with a strong Evil feeling and the aura of the past. Fukk off to the current pseudo-death metal scene. The way it should be.’, what does your band think of this description? Moreover, what does the band think of the current Death Metal scene? Do you agree that currently there is a pseudo scene in Death Metal?

Ha, this description was conceived by Necrocosm and yes we find it to be quite to-the-point. Death Metal is definitely not the same as in ’90-’94 for example. Most of the old bands are either RIP or have wimped out and most of the new bands are mediocre, boring and predictable. I’d say they’re only a handful of bands who still have the HUNGER to compose and perform music with their guts and heart, put their whole being into it… I don’t want to mention names though because taste in music is never subjective anyway, what I find to be Shit may very well be another person’s wet dream… (I pretty much mentioned them on my reply for question #17 anyway).
By the way, ‘fake’ people and bands always existed so even though I think that the quality of music is far less than quantity nowadays, it doesn’t necessarily have to do with whether it’s True or Fake. On the contrary, those who try excessively to convince us they are True are the Fakest of them all, deep down inside. Dead Congregation is not here to convince anyone about anything, if anyone thinks I am not true because I have short hair, don’t wear a bullet belt all day long and drive a nice convertible car he/she can listen to our material and SUCK MY BALLS. We will continue to deliver Furious and Blackened Death Metal no matter what people think of us.

28- Tell us something more about Dead Congregation and its members. We know that you and Vagelis were active members of Nuclear Winter. Have you participated on other bands, written projects or others? What are you doing now apart from Dead Congregation?

Yes, I have played with many other bands in the past, none of which is relevant now. I also play in Injekting Khaos (Black Metal from Athens) these days but I’m more of a session member, I’m only helping them out because their guitarist is currently studying in London.
Vagelis and our bass player Antonis are also playing in Inveracity and T is also playing in Burial Hordes… Sharing members with other bands is difficult sometimes as it’s always possible the one band’s schedule will interfere with the other’s. Considering how hard it is to find suitable people to play with (especially if you want to get along well with them and be on a similar wave length), it’s a compromise one should afford to make.

29- What do you think are your inspirations by the time of creating music with Dead Congregation? Are you only based in metal or are you also opened to other kinds of music?

As said before, we can be inspired by anything. Music, books, a beautiful woman, a good day with friends. I need to feel Alive above all to play the guitar in the first place. If I’m in a bad mood I don’t find the urge to play and therefore, compose... That’s how I function. And when I compose I become so ecstatic that I can’t think of much else other than the song for a long time and may actually lose my sleep humming it in my head all night. I become possessed by it.
My taste in Metal is varied, though I don’t listen to anything else, except for Anathema who are not exactly Metal anymore. It’s not like I’m closed-minded or something, it’s just that only Metal speaks to me, you know? I don’t even have a radio at home so if a friend who is not into Metal visits me, she/he won’t have the option of playing crap music in my apartment, haha.

30- Nowadays there’s a revival of Fascist, NS ideologies, etc… I don’t know what happens in your country but what can be seen are many bands that merge politics with metal worldwide. I believe that anyone can say whatever shit they want with their band but this is a fucking trend… what is Dead Congregation’s position with respect to this? Do you like NS ideology bands? Do you think that this Fascist ideology with ideas of political order have got something to do with the original formula in obscure metal?

I am not into politics at all. Most people follow politics blindly as if it’s some football team in the first place… Politics has nothing to do with music in general, be it Fascism, Anarchism or whatever. Some claim that extreme music should go hand in hand with extreme ideology on to some extent I agree. Extreme Metal is not exactly a ‘make love not war’ kinda thing. I just find everything too hypocritical, the same bands who praise Nazi ideology hail Blasphemy at the same time (who have coloured people in their line-up) or have nothing remote to the Arian Race. I mean, seeing Mexican (or Greek!) bands preaching race discrimination is as hilarious as seeing a band from California hail the winter frost, haha. Or Scandinavian bands who support NS ideologies and then dye their hair from blond to black, what the fuck is this? First you are proud to be Arian and then you change the most distinctive part of you that signifies it?

31- When you create Dead Congregation songs. How do you decide which parts to fit in which song? Is it difficult for you to reach a consensus and to be totally in agreement on how should each song be? By the way, how will your new songs be? Do you have any idea about the title to the new work and whether it will continue with the same line?

I am rarely inspired enough to compose but when I get to the point of feeling the need to play and write, then everything is really easy for me. Everything falls in place on its own and I almost never cancel riffs, every riff comes after the other almost subconsciously and I can have a complete song ready within half an hour, arranged to the final detail… I play it over and over again and if it doesn’t work then I change/add/remove something. On other occasions I have a few riffs that don’t make a complete song so I let them rest until I feel inspired enough to pick them up again and close the circle. Then I present the composition to the other guitarist and then we both show it to the other two guys at the rehearsal place. The other guitarist composes in the same way and we’ve reached a point that we both trust each other enough not to interfere with the other’s song, creatively. Of course, if something sounds wrong to the other person, we mention it but really this has rarely happened. This is a very simple way that has been very effective for us until now so I doubt it will ever change.
The new songs are a whirlwind of DEATH METAL CHAOS, the material picks up from where ‘Purifying Consecrated Ground’ left and takes things to another dimension. All I can say is that it won’t be (what one might call) a commercial album… The title of the album is “GRAVES OF THE ARCHANGELS” and it will be released by Nuclear War Now! (www.nwnprod.com) later this year. Timo Ketola is currently working on the artwork and he has also written lyrics for 2 of the songs, on of which is the title-track. MkM of the Mighty ANTAEUS has written a lyric for another song, so you can expect the album to be offensive both musically and lyrically.

32- What is it the most important thing that you want to promote with Dead Congregation? Many times ideologies behind bands are wrongly interpreted or misrepresented by the receiver. What would you say it’s the most important that should remain clear for someone who reads the band’s lyrics and listens to your music?

We don’t want to promote anything, we do this to unleash our own Demons. It is a personal need for Creation and if someone else likes it as well, fine. We are followers of the Left Hand Path and we find strength from our own doings.
What should remain clear is that we don’t give a shit if you like us or not. This is DEAD CONGREGATION and our only concern is to remain honest to ourselves, our lyrics are our point of view - we don’t want to preach them and attract advocates. Also, we don’t want people to LIKE our music for it is not easy-listening music to be played on the background while doing your dishes. We want our music to penetrate you wholly, to get under your skin and sense it, FEEL it with every tiny bit of you. If we manage to do that to one single person then we are content. Because this is what our music does to us.

33- Speak of their next disc “Graves of the Archangel”, we know that it will be produced by Nuclear War Now…. Tell Me details and of how NWN was interested in you. Some new concept?
There’s not much to tell. I have been in contact with them with my label and a short while ago they asked me if we would consider working with them for the new album. We gave them our terms, they agreed and that’s it. It was really an easy choice for us because not only they agreed to our terms but they also release quality products and have relatively good distribution, according to our standards. Another major factor is that they put a lot of effort in their vinyl editions and this is very important to us. Personally, I have been a big fan of their work so it is quite flattering to see my band in their roster.

34- Well Anastasis, it has been a pleasure to know about your band and about yourself. For finalizing, tell us what are you listening to these days and what are you favorite records of all times. Also tell to all the shit faces that read this interview why Dead Congregation needs to be considered.

1st STIGMA demo is really killer!_________________"There are trivial truths and the great truths. The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false. The opposite of a great truth is also true"
Niels Bohr